


The Final Message

by makuta_tobi



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, Implied Relationships, Multi, Post-Destiny 2: Forsaken DLC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-17
Updated: 2019-02-17
Packaged: 2019-10-30 05:02:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17822402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/makuta_tobi/pseuds/makuta_tobi
Summary: Shiro-4 has received a final parting message from his old mentor, Cayde-6, and agrees to honour his legacy one more time.





	The Final Message

**Author's Note:**

> Since Bungie won't tell us anything besides "Ikora sad, Zavala moody," after Cayde's death, I guess I'll have to write some more content my own damn self.

Shiro-4 leaned back in his seat. His jumpship hovered over the Last City, and down below he could still see the Festival of the Lost lanterns and candles drifting by, held aloft by helium and Warlock tricks. It was great that others were able to celebrate the ones who had passed this past year, and so many had, but this time was hard for Shiro. Hard for a lot of people, surely, but this time was the worst because, for the first time in his life, he felt truly alone.

It had only been a short while since he wrapped up his speech and production for the people to honour Cayde-6. His Ghost had played a clip of Cayde's famous storytelling, and it had driven those gathered to both laughs and tears. He swore he even saw Ikora in the crowd, but she was gone before Shiro could confirm it. Now, he sat high in his ship, watching the lights drift by, and listening to the loud howls played from somewhere far below. Then, Shiro perked up and leaned forward, ready to begin his next objective. As a scout, even in times of distress, he had a job to do, and besides, it would keep him occupied, keep him busy.

Shiro was about to send his ship to a new set of coordinates when his long range scanner pinged. Weird. The Hunter reached over and flipped a switch to turn on the display. The message was a burst transmission, originating from Titan. At first he thought it might be noise coming from some Hive communication, which would be bad, but not necessarily is concern, and he was ready to call in to Deputy Commander Sloane to make a confirmation when he noticed a string of numbers in the burst. To anyone looking at it, it might be gibberish, but to Shiro, it was as familiar as the sound of his own voice. It was his serial number. This was a broad spectrum transmission, but he was the intended recipient. To anyone else, it was just noise. The final thing he noticed, was a second string of numbers that looked like coordinates. Shiro pulled out a data pad and quickly typed in the numbers, showing a map of Earth. This clinched it, as the map pointed to the former location of a ramen shop in the old Tower. It was a message from Cayde.

He didn't stop to think about how, or why, he just knew what. Shiro downloaded the transmission and played it back. Static. Typical. Shiro turned to his Ghost, who was busy tinkering with some subsystem or other.

"I need you to use the old cipher," he said, unable to hide the urgency in his voice.

"What old cipher?" his Ghost responded, almost irritated, "If you're going to insist something, you need to be more specific."

Shiro rolled his eyes before answering. "The old Hunter cipher, you know.  _The_ cipher."

His Ghost stared at him blankly for a moment before lighting up in realization. " _That_ old thing?!" It was his Ghost's turn to sound surprised. "I haven't run that in a long time, but I can try. You really think he'd go back to using it?" the Ghost scanned the screen, recognizing the same things Shiro had.

"It's just so out there it might work, go for it," Shiro insisted. His Ghost flashed his light over the data port, downloading the data and then began glowing as he ran a long dormant program.

"Oh, Sky, you're right, it's here!" his Ghost proclaimed.

"Well play it back, damn it!" Shiro nearly shouted. His Ghost beamed the message back to the computer, and the recording began.

 _"Hey pal. I made a lot of these, like, a_ lot _, figured one of 'em would be right. Most of 'em went to people that I figured could've done me in the end. But, if you're listening to this... well, I don't think it was you. If it_ was _you, you have a lot to answer for, and Light help me, I will haunt you for the rest of your days, but all things considered? Don't think it was you. Out of everyone I trusted along the way, Ikora, Big Blue, even that mute weirdo, Traveler bless them, but out of all of those people, you were the one I trusted the most. And so when I decided to make one of these for you, I knew it was gonna be special._

_"Look, we've been through a lot, you, me, Andal, all of us. I don't think we'll ever forget the old days, me especially, and I know maybe they weren't as important to you as they were to me, but in the end, you were there to make everything better. I wanted you to know how much that meant to me. How much you mean to me. Well, not as much as... you know._

_"Anyways, if you got this, I trust you to do one last thing for me. Since clearly, I'm dead, I gotta deal with my stuff. Most of it has been given away, or claimed by others, I'm sure, hell, some of it might even have gone up in flames with me, but there's one thing that I haven't dealt with. My most cherished possessions. I want you to take care of 'em. I don't know what to tell you to do, exactly, but, I'm sure you'll know when you find 'em. They'll be at my place. And not my fancy schmancy government place. My old place. My real place. My last place. Take care, Shiro."_

The transmission ended, and Shiro-4 sat in silence, processing what he had heard. A final request, but, was it something he could actually do? No, there was no way. This was too much, now, here, he couldn't bare to do anything more. And what could Cayde do if he didn't?

"We are going, right?" his Ghost asked, sending a cold chill down Shiro's metal spine.

"We have work to do, we can't," he said, turning towards the controls of his ship.

"Cayde was our friend, you're really just gonna leave him hanging like that? High and dry, like everyone else?" Shiro paused at this. "He trusts you, and you wanna betray that trust?"

Shiro didn't say anything for a long while, and finally, he shook his head.

"Damn you, I hate it when you're right. You get smart when you're right." If his Ghost could grin, he would've. Shiro piloted his jumpship up into the sky, breaking atmosphere no problem, and readjusting to the curvature of the Earth.

"So where is this 'real' place he was talking about?" Shiro's Ghost inquired.

"The only place he trusted to be away from everyone else. Old Chicago." He hit the afterburners and shot away, flying across the horizon, and eventually angled his ship back towards Earth. The entry was rough, but nothing that the duo hadn't encountered a millions time before, entering and leaving the atmosphere of planets and moons time and time again over the years. They always went somewhere with purpose, but this time it felt real, not a mission, but a destiny.

Shiro pulled his ship level as it flew over old, crumbling buildings. Chicago. A desolate city, overtaken by swamp and decay. It was a quarantined zone, technically outlawed by Vanguard decree, but not heavily enforced, not in the same way as the Russian Cosmodrome was. Daring new Guardians would travel to Chicago hoping to find treasure and new experiences, but all they would find was death. From his ship, Shiro could see a Hive Seeder crashed into a high rise building, and a Fallen Skiff rusting on top of another. There were certainly more dangers here than in much of the world, but the worst part was the eerie silence that permeated the city. The smallest sound echoed off of the massive buildings, but nothing seemed to stir.

It was here that Cayde had made his home. Settling into an old apartment building, fortified enough to defend himself. He had provided the address to Shiro after he took the Vanguard gig, but asked he never go there. Shiro never made any reason to investigate. Now, however, he was on his way to the final home away from home that Cayde-6 had made for himself.

Settling his jumpship near the building he would enter, Shiro transmatted to the ground, and his Ghost directed the ship to a safe distance away. The yellow Exo didn't stop to take in his surroundings, just hopped over a green puddle and made his was towards the building. It was pre-Golden Age, but modified later, as was much of the city. An external staircase led up to the third floor, where Shiro knew the apartment would be. 309, Cayde had always seemed so proud of that. Even now, the number didn't make sense. Shiro shook off the thought and counted the doors as he reached the third floor. The apartment he reached had only the 0 still remaining on the door, rust streaking down its white frame.

"Scan for explosives," Shiro said, almost irritated. His Ghost released a flash of light and bobbed in a nod.

"This door is rigged to explode if you open it. Good going, but it doesn't look like you can disable it from the outside, and shooting it will likely set it off. How do we get in?"

"Not through the front door," Shiro sighed. He walked a little past the door, letting his fingers glide across the stone wall. They brushed against something, a softer spot. Like it had been back-filled with a slightly different material. Shiro unlimbered his rifle and held it in his arms, then raised the butt and struck the wall repeatedly. The impact shattered the wall and it collapsed inside. The apartment was dark, all of the windows had been covered with metal plates, and the only light was from the hole Shiro had created. He stepped over the rubble and his Ghost illuminated the interior.

The apartment was nice, even after all this time. Trash was littered around, Cayde's neglected folly. A kitchen island with several shattered plates was visible from here, and capes of various sizes and designs had been hung on the walls in honour of those who had fallen.

"Come on," Shiro gestured as he walked further inside. His Ghost looked around for a moment before settling onto Shiro' shoulder to guide the way. They walked past the living area and found a hallway with a few doors. Two of them were closed, but the handle had been broken off of one, and he could see the bathroom inside. The other one was his objective. Shiro slung his rifle over his shoulder and pressed his fingers to the door. Then he moved and pressed his back to the wall next to the door.

"What are you-" his Ghost began, but Shiro cut him off by turning the handle and throwing open the door. Seven loud blasts followed, and the wall across the door was obliterated as the shotgun blasts disintegrated the sheet rock. "Oh."

"Cayde wanted this place safe, it was the last backup he had. He was weird like that. Had contingencies for his contingencies, but this was always the final piece of the puzzle, no matter what. Never could figure out why, but he had to make sure no one would leave here alive. I can guarantee the place is rigged to blow on a timer. Even if someone survived the door bomb, or the shotgun trap, they'd get blown up before they could make off with anything."

Shiro entered the room, past the still smoking shotgun, and looked around. There was a bed with fungus growing on it, a nightstand with an empty picture frame, and a closet with a crude spade carved into the wall with a blade. The Hunter threw open the closet without hesitation, and a bunch of stuff fell out. Some of it was pieces of Fallen armour, others were pieces of armour Cayde had found or made himself. Still others were old weapons, goblets, cloth, and more.

"This is his treasure?" Shiro's Ghost scoffed.

"No, this is all worthless," the Guardian responded, kneeling down and shifting through the pile of nonsense. "If someone managed to survive long enough to find this stuff, they might think it was worth it, what with all the protection, but they'd go back to sell it and boom, insult to injury, none of this stuff is worth the closet space it took up. Except..."

"Except?"

"This Shock Pistol is interesting," Shiro picked up the weapon and stood, turning it over in his hands.

"Why is that?" the Ghost egged him on.

"It still has a shot left in it," he said, pointing to the display. "Now why would overly cautious Cayde leave a charged weapon lying around like this?"

"Because he was a reckless idiot?" his Ghost offered sincerely.

Shiro looked around and noticed a knife blade jammed into the inside wall of the closet, with the handle pried off. He took aim with the Shock Pistol and fired the single remaining bullet. The highly charged shot hit the blade and send a jolt of energy into the wall. A panel in the ceiling opened up and a plain wooden box dropped onto the pile of garbage at their feet.

"... _That_?" asked the Ghost ludicrously. " _That_ is Cayde's most precious treasure?"

"What, did you expect, a big ornate chest with his name carved in it?" Shiro lifted the box in his hands and opened the lid. Inside was an assortment of papers and other loose objects. On top was a photograph, a physical photograph, of Cayde, Andal, and Shiro together on a beach. He remembered that day well, but even Shiro didn't have a physical copy of this image, only the memories contained in his mind. He called upon them and could still smell the smoked salmon they had caught, and the sound of the caravan they escorted past the Fallen blockade.

Under the photo was a series of notes Cayde had written, seemingly to himself. There were several old phone book pages torn, with names crossed out and others circled, notes scribbled into the margins, with no real reasoning behind the madness of it all. A deck of playing cards, held together with an old rubber band, singed around one of the corners, a blank journal with two letters emblazoned on it, and at the bottom, lay four small data cards, the same kind Ghosts used to read computer data or get useful updates. Each one had a piece of tape on it with a card suite drawn on. The club and diamond were faded, almost untouched, the spade looked like it had been put through the ringer plenty of times, with the tape frayed in several places and scratches on the outside of the drive. The heart looked untouched as well, but Shiro was interested that the red heart had been scribbled over with black. It hadn't been removed, but crossed out nonetheless.

Closing the box, Shiro turned away and walked away from the room, silent as ever.

"Is that it? We're done?"

"Seeing as this place is about to be blown sky high, yeah, I'd say we're done." His Ghost rushed after him, having completely forgotten about the final booby trap.

The two of them left and boarded the jumpship, exiting the atmosphere and returning to orbit around the planet. Shiro laid out the four tapes in front of him. He had always been the Diamond to Cayde. Sure, he used them to represent weapons manufacturers eventually, but back in the old days, they meant something else. Cayde was the Spade, Shiro the Diamond, and Andal the Club. The Heart was always supposed to represent the Traveler, so it seemed interesting that the Heart was crossed out. Even more interesting, Shiro noticed, that the Spade was a different brand of data drive. It had been made at a different time, or by someone else, at least.

Andal. He was Cayde's closest confidante, closest friend, maybe more. Perhaps Cayde had made all of these are a precursor to the "you killed me" messages he was keeping for everyone, but if that was the case, why was there one by Andal, but never one from Shiro? And what was the one with the heart? He couldn't bare to ask the questions, he needed to know, that was it. He gestured for his Ghost to turn around and he slipped the data drive into the port on the rear of his companion. The Ghost lit up as it played the audio recording stored away for so long.

_"Hey Andal, hey... you. Look, I don't know how to say the things I need to, had to get a few shots of liquid courage, but here we go. We've been running this operation for a while. And after all the stuff I did way back before you came along, I felt like I was missing something. I think that something was you. I know, it's cliche, but what can I say, I'm a romantic with a passion for the way things used to be. I can't remember the Queen, I've told you this much, but maybe it's time I moved past that. Can' play with half a deck, maybe it's time to shuffle it again, or something? Anyways, I just wanted you to know, that I've been feeling this way for some time, and I don't think it's fair to keep that to myself. Anyways, if you end up listening to this, I'll probably be camped out for a few days, so, while I'm gone, think it over, and let me know what you think, okay?"_

The tape ended and Shiro's Ghost turned to him. He had always known that Cayde felt more than he let on. He was glad he had admitted it to himself, at least. But the fact that all of these tapes were here together meant it had never been delivered. Did Andal know? Had Cayde talked to him in person? Had Andal confessed first? The two most rambunctious Hunters the galaxy had ever known had kept so many secrets, there was no way to know. Perhaps, even now, they were in each other's arms. Or perhaps Andal had refused.

Either way, it didn't matter. Shiro had fulfilled his duty. He would keep these items safe, for now, until he had a better idea what to do with them. But he would have to keep it quiet, no telling what the Vanguard would do if they discovered these items. For now, Shiro had work to do, and with the knowledge that his two best friends had been so much more reinvigorated him to find the truth of his own life. Shiro turned the ship and flew to his next destination. 

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally going to include the remembrance ceremony that was mentioned in the Ghost Stories lore book, but it was going to be like 80 billion paragraphs of Shiro talking about Cayde and that was boring, so I just cut to the good stuff afterwards.


End file.
